She cares more than you think
by kyoyaootori
Summary: Father/Son drabble. Alvin let's Dave know how he feels about Vinny not going to live with them years ago.


Alvin burst through the front door, his expression a mixture of both anger, and hurt. His brothers rushing after him but the red-clad chipmunk didn't want to hear it; he told them to 'Fuck off' before rushing up to his room, slamming the door behind him. The two younger chipmunks sighed heavily at the foot of the stairs while Dave soon appeared in the hallway with them.

"What happened?" he asked calmly; he never liked to hear Alvin cuss, especially when it was at his brothers. Simon turned to face Dave, and began to explain everything that had happened while they were visiting their mother, Vinny.

"Alvin… is upset with our mother," he answered, adjusting his glasses with his index finger.

"Yeah, he got real mad at her today..., he started crying." Theodore added with a frown.

"Hm," Dave mused, glancing up at the stairs before putting on a reassuring smile for his boys. "I'll go talk to him, okay? Everything will be alright. You boys do me a favor and finish cooking dinner for me, I'll be down soon." Simon and Theodore nodded their heads and did as Dave instructed.

The father of the three headed up the stairs as his boys rushed off to the kitchen. Once he reached Alvin's room he gently knocked on the door. "Alvin? May I come in?"

"_Go away_,_Dave_," his son's muffled voice answered. Dave tried the door handle only to find that it was locked, he inhaled softly, leaning against the door.

"Alvin, please, you're not in trouble, I just want to talk to you." Dave tried again, getting only silence in return. He stood up straight, not ready to give up. "I'm not leaving until you decide to let me in," he stated clearly, folding his arms over his chest.

After a few moments of silence he heard the mattress rustle, and foot step's moving towards the door. Alvin wiped his eyes with his sleeve before opening it, attempting to appear fine in front of his father.

"What?" he looked up at Dave quizzically. Dave didn't say a word as he gently pushed past his oldest son in order to get into his bedroom. He found a chair with a pile of clothes on it, and decided that it was probably a safe move if he had just sat on the bed.

"I want to know what happened at your mother's," he stated calmly. Alvin shut the door behind him, and stared at the floor of his room. He didn't say a word, but instead lightly shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing," he replied, glancing up at Dave.

"Something had to have happened," Dave responded, crossing his legs and folding his hands onto his lap. "Your brothers already gave me a brief explanation."

Alvin crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact again. He really didn't feel like talking about it. "Dave, really, it was nothing." As he spoke he couldn't help but flashback to earlier, the way he raised his voice at her; Simon and Theodore trying to calm him down, and most importantly, the look on her face. The red-clad chipmunk couldn't help but regret what he had said. Even if he had kept it all bottled up inside of him for so long.

Dave didn't say another word as he began to try another method on his eldest son. Alvin still refused to look at his father, until he could no longer stand him staring for so long. "Okay, _fine_. I'll tell you…," he trailed off, looking over at Dave.

His father smiled softly, nodding as a gesture to let him know that he was listening. Alvin sighed, removing his cap to rake his fingers through his hair. "When we were visiting mom…, I kind of brought up something that I probably shouldn't have." He started off, fidgeting with his trademark hat.

"Mhm," Dave mused, urging him to go on.

"And…, it's not like it was entirely my fault, she never gave us a good enough answer anyway, and I've been wanting to ask for a really long time now, so I sort of just let everything out." He rushed to get the sentence out, his grip on the hat tightening.

Dave's expression softened as he watched his son, he was obviously still bothered by everything that had happened. "What did you ask her, hm? It couldn't have been that bad, Alvin."

"It was," Alvin sighed, finally placing his cap back onto his head and slouching besides Dave. "…I…, asked her why she never came to live with us…," Alvin made sure to continue staring at the ground. "And then I got mad when she said it was because she knew she wouldn't have been able to get used to the city life…, and that we seemed happy with you." The blue-eyed chipmunk's fists clenched out of frustration as he remembered word-for-word what was said. "I got mad because, wouldn't she at least try to make that sacrifice for us? Wouldn't she want to be in our lives if she really loved us? She's hardly been able to see us grow up…, and I felt like that was her fault." Alvin's voice by now was beginning to falter.

Dave placed a hand onto his son who was now shaking from frustration. But he stayed silent as Alvin spoke. "She was always complaining about how she never got to see us that often. We're busy, Dave, doesn't she know that we're sensations?! She wouldn't… she wouldn't have had to go through that if she lived here with us." Alvin hastily wiped away a tear that had managed to break free as he blinked. His breath was shaky, and even now he was angry at himself for feeling this way. "I know she loves us, but… I've just always felt like you cared about us more…," he trailed off again, deciding that he didn't want to talk anymore.

To Dave's surprise, Alvin buried his face into his chest, gripping his shirt as he cried. The father of three soothingly rubbed his son's back, holding him close. "I'm sorry that you felt that way, Alvin. But sometimes, even if you love someone very much you can't bring yourself to make sacrifices for them. That's just how things are. It doesn't mean that you care about that person less, you just figure that you're too fragile to handle change. What would you do if she had gotten really sick, hm? I bet you didn't even think about that."

Alvin sniffled as he lifted his head to look up at Dave, "…No, I didn't… I guess I should've thought about that earlier…,"

Dave smiled and kissed Alvin's forehead, rubbing his shoulders. "Cheer up, you can apologize to her tomorrow now that you have a bit more understanding of how she feels. How's that sound?"

Alvin cracked a smile and nodded his head, hugging his father tightly before pulling away. "Yeah, sounds good. Thanks, Dave."

"You're most certainly welcome."


End file.
